For too long, the Web3 narrative has been dominated by the sterile quest for objectivity – a Sisyphian task of recording every aspect of human existence on the blockchain. However, blockchain’s laser-focus on objectivity fails to capture the nuanced realities of our increasingly interconnected and complex digital existence.
We seem more interested in thinking of the world in binaries of on-chain or off-chain rather than building “holistically towards a more free and open society and economy, where the different parts – technological, social, and economic – fit into each other.”
To truly integrate blockchain’s ideals into every aspect of human experience – technological, social, and economic – we propose a move away from pure objectivity, towards intersubjectivity – the shared understanding that emerges from interactions between different entities.
This shift aligns perfectly with the nature of hyper-scalable heterogeneous distributed systems. These systems comprise several diverse components such as hardware, software, data structures and protocols while working towards a unified goal. Intersubjectivity then becomes the connective tissue between these diverse, pluralistic systems, helping them achieve a common purpose.
Defining Intersubjectivity: The Missing Link
Intersubjectivity recognizes that a shared understanding is formed via discourse and discussion rather than solely from objective data. In decentralized systems, this means recognizing that participants bring diverse, subjective perspectives that must be validated and incorporated, rather than simply relying on token-based voting or majority rule.
By embracing intersubjectivity, we can bridge the gap between blockchain’s objective nature and the inherently subjective realms of governance, economics, and social dynamics.
The Urgent Need for Intersubjective Governance
Current decentralized governance models, based on token-based voting, prioritize the will of the majority. Decision-making becomes transactional rather than reflective of the community’s collective will, leading to disenfranchisement and disengagement among participants. Intersubjective consensus, however, allows for contribution-based decision making, where a participant's time, work and contributions are more valuable than their token holdings.
Moreover, intersubjective consensus can also help strengthen blockchain’s core principle of censorship-resistance.
Censorship Resistance: Safeguarding Collective Truth
Censorship resistance protects the free flow of information, ensuring no external authority can distort collective truths. While blockchains are inherently censorship resistant since the records are immutable, one way of censorship is through transaction ordering. Without censorship resistance, those in control of information flows could manipulate outcomes, undermining the intersubjective consensus.
One crucial way that intersubjective consensus can ensure robust anti-censorship is low-cost is to align economic incentives across blockchains. When governance frameworks move away from token-ownership, we can create interoperable governance: governance mechanisms that are consistent across different blockchains. This interoperability can lead to an expansion of the user base of all networks, since participation is no longer tied to tokens.
Redefining Economic Incentives
Intersubjectivity recognizes that human motivation is complex and multifaceted. Traditional economic models in blockchain focus solely on token ownership and are insufficient to create a fair compensation mechanism.
Systems that prioritize token ownership create shallow participation and do not incentivize the full spectrum of contributions—such as creativity, governance, or community building. Intersubjective consensus can reward these contributions, creating fairer, sophisticated economic models that go beyond mere financial rewards.
This is not just an economic innovation, it is a redefinition of value itself. Intersubjective consensus recognizes the full spectrum of human contribution and reflects the diverse needs of a system’s participants.
Call to Action
The vision outlined in this paper is a fundamental shift in how we approach the development of decentralized distributed systems. This paper is not just an intellectual exercise – it is a clarion call to action towards intersubjective consensus.
By embracing intersubjectivity, we can usher in an era of decentralized ecosystems that are not just transparent and secure, but also human-centric, and truly representative of the collective will of their participants.
The time to act is now. The movement for intersubjectivity in blockchain begins today.
